Posts Tagged ‘census’

Online Surveys Have Same Accuracy as Phone

Thursday, May 26th, 2011

A new study presented by two professors from Harvard University and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst was probably one of the liveliest and potentially disruptive presentations at least week’s annual meeting of the American Association of Public Opinion Research (AAPOR) in Phoenix.

Why?  Because their research challenges the beliefs of many AAPOR-ites who disregard most online research as being theoretically indefensible since it is not based on probability sampling.  The research presented was based on parallel surveys conducted last year, designed to allow careful comparison of three survey modes:  (more…)

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Posted in Data Collection, Methods & Tools, Online Surveys, Public Polls, Public Relations, Sampling | No Comments »

Sampling for Dummies

Friday, December 10th, 2010

The idea of sampling is not hard to grasp, but methodological discussions about sampling can quickly move into the higher reaches of mathematics and probability that confuse even researchers who are not statisticians.  Ever wonder what we are talking about when we refer to “probability samples?”  Or the rationale for not reporting margins of error?  Or why there is no such thing as a “statistically significant sample size?”

AAPOR and the ASA are offering a great way for non-statisticians to learn more about sampling.  AAPOR is the American Association of Public Opinion Research, and the ASA is the American Statistical Association.  In February they are hosting an introductory webinar on sampling for non-statisticians that that we recommend.  It is being taught by a senior statistician at NORC, and will cover such topics as: (more…)

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Posted in Data Collection, Methods & Tools, Public Polls, Public Relations, Sampling | No Comments »

A Better Way to Get Census Data

Thursday, October 8th, 2009

The U.S. Census is one of the most useful tools for research and marketing because it tells you how many people fit specific demographic profiles and where they live.  It started out as a simple count of how many people live in each state in order to allocate congressional seats.  But it has since become a rich source of insight, with information about Americans’ age, family composition, work status, income, education, housing, and more.

While the Census provides basic tabulations and counts on its website, you can also query the data yourself to answer specific, customized questions that you are unable to find otherwise.  In fact, using this data is so easy that Versta no longer uses the Census’ rather difficult and ever-changing “fact finder” features.  We have downloaded the data along with a codebook, and use a statistics program to run specific queries and counts of anything we need. (more…)

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Posted in Future Trends, Market Research, Methods & Tools, Uncategorized | No Comments »

The Walmart “Poll” of Chicago Residents

Tuesday, August 4th, 2009

Mistakes to Avoid when Conducting a Public Relations Survey

Surveys and polls can be powerful tools to understand what people are thinking and doing, and they can provide good data for public relations efforts and community outreach.  Unfortunately they can also be gimmicks, which erodes trust in polling and in the organizations sponsoring them.

(more…)

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Posted in Public Polls, Public Relations, Sampling | 1 Comment »